Poverty Shaping Politics. Machine Parties and Their Unexpected Challengers, from Rodrigo Zarazaga

Abstract

The following review summarises the main aspects of the new book by the prominent argentinian political scientist Rodrigo Zarazaga, entitled: Poverty Shaping Politics. Machine Parties and Their Unexpected Challengers, published in English in 2025 by Cambridge University Press. The book describes the work of state mediators (or political brokers) in the suburbs of Buenos Aires province, mainly in the context of the 2015 elections, when the Cambiemos coalition won both the national and provincial elections. Based on outstanding ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews with mediators and relevant political actors, the author shows how brokers exchange state resources for political services with residents of the most vulnerable and segregated areas of the region.